Plants of
South Australia
Chorizandra enodis
Cyperaceae
Black Bristle-sedge,
Black Bristle-rush
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Regional Species Conservation Assessments per IBRA subregion.
Least concern
Near threatened
Rare
Vulnerable
Endangered
Critically endangered
Extinct
Data deficient
Adelaide
Arkaroola
Ceduna
Coober Pedy
Hawker
Innamincka
Marla
Marree
Mount Gambier
Oodnadatta
Renmark
Wudinna
Keith
Yunta
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Botanical art

Kath Alcock paintings: 3

Common names

Black Bristle-sedge

Black Bristle-rush

Etymology

Chorizandra from the Greek 'chorizo' meaning to separate and 'aner' meaning a male; referring to the male flowers. Enodis from Latin meaning without knots or smooth.

Distribution and status

Found in the southern part of South Australia, on southern Eyre Peninsula, Kangaroo Island, southern Mount Lofty Ranges and the south-east, growing in damp places. Also found in Western Australia, Victoria and Tasmania. Native. Common in South Australia. Rare in Tasmania. Uncommon in the other states.
Herbarium regions: Eyre Peninsula, Northern Lofty, Murray, Yorke Peninsula, Southern Lofty, Kangaroo Island, South Eastern, Green Adelaide
NRM regions: Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges, Eyre Peninsula, Kangaroo Island, Northern and Yorke, South Australian Murray-Darling Basin, South East
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Perennial sedge with slender but wiry stems to 30 cm high and 1 mm thick, arising from a creeping rhizome. Leaves basal, the inner stem-like, the outer reduced to sheathing bases. Flower-spike a dense globular reddish-black head to 12 mm diaeter, with a long slender stiff erect involucral bract. Flowers in spring and summer. Fruits are dense, dark brown to black spherical flower-heads. Seeds are woody purple-brown ovoid nut to 2.5 mm long and 1.5 mm wide, with a net-like striation on the surface. Seed embryo type is capitate.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between November and February. Collect heads that are brown and come off easily with your fingers. Place the heads in a tray and leaves to dry for a week. Then rub the heads gently with a rubber bung to dislodge the seed. Use a sieve to separated the unwanted material. Store the seeds with a desiccant such as dried silica beads or dry rice, in an air tight container in a cool and dry place. Seed viability can be low to high depending on season.

Seeds stored:
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LocationNo. of seeds
(weight grams)
Number
of plants
Date
collected
Collection number
Collection location
Date
stored
% ViabilityStorage
temperature
BGA 
MSB
4,200 (8.86 g)
4,200 (8.86 g)
200+8-Nov-2006PJA143
South Eastern
1-Aug-200730%-18°C
BGA10,000 (20.14 g)200+4-Feb-2017Winery Road Reserve
Southern Lofty
1-Nov-201775%-18°C
Location: BGA — the seeds are stored at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, MSB — the seeds are stored at the Millennium Seed Bank, Kew, England.
Number of plants: This is the number of plants from which the seeds were collected.
Collection location: The Herbarium of South Australia's region name.
% Viability: Percentage of filled healthy seeds determined by a cut test or x-ray.
Germination table:
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